It was Monday again, and so far, everything was going smoothly. Nothing seemed to be bothering my mind, which hasn't been the case for a while now. The bell rang as I quickly made my way into Chemistry, rushing to sit down at my table before the teacher saw my almost-tardiness. She looked around the room - a one glance - and then marked things down onto a paper. I sighed slowly, unpacking my notebook out of my bag. I looked over to my left to see the chair next to me empty. My ears picked up, making my head spin around the classroom in search of Jordan, but she was not there. I slouched back down in my seat, disgruntled. My mouth shifted to the side while I sat there in my spot, but then slowly resuming unpacking my things.
"Everyone open to page 254, and work on problems.." The teacher recited. I routinely opened my book, glancing over at the door every so often, hopping to see feet walking into the door. At one point, someone did enter, but my excitement subsided when it was just one of the new receptionists delivering a note to my teacher. The class went by slowly, and without the constant presence of Jordan, my mind was left at a blank the whole time – and I am positive that I did not learn a thing. The only next pleasant face was that of my sister's, but I didn't see her all the way until lunch time, 4 classes later. We didn't have any classes together otherwise – we hadn't been in the same school room together for years, so it was nice to be able to see her by lunch.
I sat down at our usual table and pulled my bag lunch out of my backpack, where Tegan arrived shortly after and did the same. Our mother always had encouraged us to bring lunch, and only recently had we gotten in the routine of actually doing it. I liked bringing my own food though; you could choose exactly what you wanted that day and there was no worry about not getting the food you wanted because you didn't get to the line quick enough. Tegan still complained though; always saying it was a hassle to get up 20 minutes earlier than she normally did. Now she still looked mad, pulling out the flimsily done peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a glare.
"What the fuck Sara?" She growled, holding up the dripping sandwich. I raised an eyebrow, shifting in my seat, acting like I had no idea what she was referring to. "What ever do you mean my dear sister?" I asked, as sarcastically 50's as I could.
"This!" she yelled, shaking the sandwich,"Don't fucking mess with me!" Tegan actually smiled a bit, losing her anger but still being frustrated with me. This morning, she had asked me to make her food since she was too lazy to get up and do it herself. I didn't do a very good job to her standards – even though I half assed it on purpose. I was pleased with her reaction. "That's what you get for being lazy." I winked. She blew air out of the side of her mouth, blowing her hair out of her face. I giggled loudly, hiding behind my sandwich when she threw the paper bag at me.
. . .
The bench in the quad was hard and uncomfortable, but it was the only place to sit out here; it was the place Jordan usually sat at after school. I had been waiting here for the past half an hour after school, pretending to do homework or look busy so people could stop starring at me. After the time passed, Jordan still never showed up. I stood up and sighed, collecting my things and making it towards the front gates of my school. Why wasn't she here? It's not like she was sick – she seemed fine the other day. Maybe she had family issues or something. "Oh well I guess, she'll probably be back tomorrow" I breathed out quietly to myself.
A week went by, and still I did not have a lab partner to be with in 1st period. I was starting to get nervous now – well, I had been all week – but now it was just getting ridicules. I was trying to think back to the last thing that I saw of Jordan. She seemed in fine standing physically, but with my paranoid mind stuck on her, I couldn't help remembering her ex boyfriend that seemed to be following her; for whatever reason that may be. He scared me, and even though Jordan seemed to be able to hold her own against him – he could still do something. I don't know what, but something. Something that could hurt her. I felt sweat form on the side of my face as I played with my fingers on my bed. I had been laying there all afternoon, lost in thought about what could have come with this girl. My eyes followed the twirl of the fan blades, watching them spin in the air above me – wondering what would happen if they suddenly fell. I wondered how bad that would hurt.
The next day, Tuesday, I slowly made my way down the sidewalk towards the campus of my school. The wind blew lightly, but otherwise the sun kept my skin warm. I didn't feel warm though, not at all. The bitter taste in my mouth hadn't gone away in days, and I was starting to hate it. All I wanted to know was what had happened to Jordan. No one just stops going to school like that unless something bad had happened. I kicked a rock on the sidewalk into the street as I walked, pacing up to the corner in front of the school gates. My eyes mindlessly turned to the side to where I saw a familiar face. But this wasn't what I was expecting to see – it was on a piece of paper, taped to the brick wall by my school. My lips pursed in question as I approached it, and soon the bitter taste in my mouth grew 10 fold with my heart as it beat faster than I've ever felt it beat before.
The piece of paper depicted a picture of Jordan, with in big black letters above the image read "MISSING". There was a phone number to call under her name, and a description of what she was last seen wearing. I quickly pulled out my phone without another thought and dialed the number on the piece of paper, shaking violently as I raised my cell up to my ear. It beeped 3 times before a man's voice answered. "Hello?" he asked.
"Yes hi, I saw a poster about Jordan – she's missing?"
"Yeah?" He asked, taking me back a moment on his tone. He seemed frustrated with me. It also sounded like he had something in his mouth.
"Well…Do you know what happened to her?" I asked, looking around me.
"How the fuck should I know – she's missing. That means I don't know where she is dipshit." He cursed at me. I lowered my brow at the phone. "It was just a fucking question." I hissed into the phone, "Who the fuck is this anyway?"
The line went dead. I pulled the phone away from my ear and looked at the blinking number. I bit my lip as I looked back up at the poster, wondering if the man on the phone was actually looking for Jordan for the reasons I wanted to believe.